Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia
Volume 23
Number 3 Exploring transnational relations Article 12
10-31-2022
In memoriam H.E. Harimurti Kridalaksana (KPH Martanegara) In memoriam H.E. Harimurti Kridalaksana (KPH Martanegara)
Felicia N. Utorodewo
Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia, [email protected]
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Recommended Citation Recommended Citation
Utorodewo, Felicia N. (2022) "In memoriam H.E. Harimurti Kridalaksana (KPH Martanegara)," Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia: Vol. 23: No. 3, Article 12.
DOI: 10.17510/wacana.v23i3.1011
Available at: https://scholarhub.ui.ac.id/wacana/vol23/iss3/12
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© 2022 Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia
Felicia N. Utorodewo| DOI: 10.17510/wacana.v23i3.1011.
Obituaries
In memoriam H.E. Harimurti Kridalaksana (KPH Martanegara) Ungaran, Central Java, 23 December, 1939 – Jakarta, 11 July, 2022
Felicia N. Utorodewo Department of Linguistics Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia [email protected] On Monday, 11 July, 2022, I received the sad news that a certain calm, polite and, above all, wise man of my acquaintance had passed away at 03:49. Prof Dr Hubert Emmanuel Harimurti Kridalaksana was a prominent linguist, especially in Indonesian linguistics, who did not hesitate to share his knowledge. He had an outstanding reputation both nationally and internationally. Among other honours, he was the recipient of the Prince Sentana award carrying the title Kanjeng Pangeran Harya (KPH) Martanegara which was bestowed upon him at Pura Pakualaman Yogyakarta in 2004 for his proficiency and dedication in the world of education. This title of Javanese nobility is given to those who have contributed significantly to the country. On the personal side, those who knew him liked him for his cheerful disposition – an asset which helped him in conducting his studies wherever he was – and for his courtesy, politeness, and readiness to help in any way he could.
Harimurti was born on 23 December, 1939, in Ungaran, Central Java. From his youth, he was an avid reader and enjoyed writing. In particular, from an early age his passion for the Indonesian language stood out, and throughout his life, he devoted himself to Indonesian linguistics and the way in which Indonesian speakers actually used the language. In this respect, one of his principal contentions was that the writing of Indonesian grammar books had not been based on observations of the actual use of everyday Indonesian. [This was what later prompted him to conduct research on Tata bahasa deskriptif bahasa Indonesia; Sintaksis (Indonesian descriptive grammar; Syntax).] While for the academic world Anton M. Moeliono is known as the Ayatullah of
734 Wacana Vol. 23 No. 3 (2022) In memoriam H.E. Harimurti Kridalaksana (KPH Martanegara) 735 the Indonesian language, Harimurti is known as the Father of Indonesian
Linguistics. He did indeed act as a father to almost all the present generation of linguists in Indonesia.
Harimurti Kridalaksana was a loving husband, father, father-in-law, and grandparent who adored his family. He married Maria Celestine Kusmarlinah (Lien) in 1967. They were blessed with three children, a pair of twins, Albertus Harsawibawa (Albi) and Adrianus Harsawaskita (Adri), a daughter, Bernadette Kushartanti (Kiki), and two grandchildren, Angelina Kuswidhiastri and Athanasius Gaudi Harsya Widhayaka. Harimurti invariably gave credit to his wife for his family claiming that it was Lien who produced four PhD-s from Ciputat, all three children having earned doctorate degrees. She also indulged his love of chocolate. Harimurti was a chocaholic. His love of black forest cake and tiramisu rivalled his love for Indonesian. Tiramisu was not the only item of Italian cuisine that he liked, he especially relished lasagna and spaghetti bolognese.
He studied at Fakultas Sastra Universitas Indonesia (FSUI, the Faculty of Letters Universitas Indonesia; now FIB-UI: Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia) and graduated in 1963. Interestingly, his thesis was a philological study of old literature, not linguistics. But it should be noted that his broad knowledge covered a range of fields. Apart from linguistics, he was also interested in history and political science. In 1961, he taught civics or citizenship. I recall attending a lecture course of his on Kewiraan (Nationalism and defence) which I took in place of the Wajib Latih Mahasiswa (Walawa, a compulsory student training activity). In addition, over a number of years, he translated works in political and social science. From 1963 onwards he taught at FSUI on courses in Sejarah Linguistik (the History of Linguistics) and Perbandingan Sejarah Linguistik Austronesia (the Comparative History of Austronesian Linguistics). This allowed him to combine his interest in, and his knowledge of both history and linguistics.
It was Harimurti’s passion for history that motivated him to write a history of the Malay-Indonesian language relying on comprehensive authoritative sources. In the course of his research, he wrote several books that illustrate his initial efforts in collecting historical data, among them: Rintisan dalam linguistik Indonesia; Kumpulan karangan (1984, Pioneers in Indonesian linguistics;
A collection of essays) and Masa lampau bahasa Indonesia; Sebuah bunga rampai (1991), an anthology of Indonesian language history.
Right up to the end of his life, he continued to write books related to the history of the Indonesian language. For example, – information from Daldiyono, a close friend of Harimurti – in the last two years, Harimurti worked on two books on the history of the Indonesian language with the assistance of a former student, Yanwardi. The first book, Masa-masa awal bahasa Indonesia (The early days of Indonesian), was published by Yayasan Pustaka Obor Indonesia in 2018. The second book, which is a continuation of the first book and his last work, is Perencanaan bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian language planning). The book was on the brink of being published at Harimurti’s death.
Masa-masa awal bahasa Indonesia presents Harimurti’s view on the birth of the Indonesian language, clearing up one or two misapprehensions. It is often taken that the Indonesian language or bahasa Indonesia, as it is known, came into existence as the description of a separate language when it was declared the national language on 28 October 1928, in the resolution of the Kongres Pemuda II (Second Youth Congress). However, Harimurti pointed out that the birth of the Indonesian language in fact occurred on 2 May 1926, in the midst of the Kongres Pemuda I (First Youth Congress, 30 April – 2 May, 1926). In this context, he emphasized the important roles played by Ki Hadjar Dewantara, Mohamad Tabrani, Soemanang, and Soedarjo Tjokrosisworo. On 2 May 1926, Moh. Tabrani had stated that the Indonesian language should be Indonesian and not Malay and two years later this proposal was accepted.
In 1970 Harimurti continued his education in language teaching at the University of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, United States of America. In 1971, He received a Fulbright scholarship at the university. He earned his MA in Lexicostatistics in 1972. In 1973, he attended a summer program at the University of Michigan as a visiting scholar.
We met each other when Harimurti returned from his studies in America.
I was a second-year student in 1975 and took his morphology and syntax courses. My first impression of him was that he was a very systematic teacher.
With his baritone voice, he explained the importance of learning linguistics and keeping our ears and eyes open to language phenomena around us. He taught us to be critical, but also made the point that when voicing our opinions, we should always be polite and considerate, as he himself was. His way of teaching was very interactive, and he kept the students in the class alert. He became a very popular lecturer among the students.
In 1985, Harimurti received a Humboldt Fellowship from Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He was invited as a visiting professor, where he taught and, at the same time, took advantage of the opportunity to do research and write his doctoral dissertation. He also wrote a book on Old Javanese language structure, Struktur bahasa Jawa Kuna (Nusa Indah, 1984), together with L. Mardiwarsito. In 1987, returning from Germany, Harimurti completed his research and dissertation writing and achieved his doctorate in Indonesian linguistic studies. A year later, in 1988, his dissertation entitled Beberapa prinsip perpaduan leksem dalam bahasa Indonesia (Some principles of combining lexemes in Indonesian) was published by Kanisius, Yogyakarta. He became a full professor in 1991.
Apart from teaching, Harimurti was involved in several organisations from an early age. He was active in PMKRI (Perhimpunan Mahasiswa Katolik Republik Indonesia, ‘Indonesian Catholic Student Society’) and served as its chairman in 1962. As a linguist, he was a member of various professional organizations, such as the Linguistic Society of America, Societas Linguistica Europaea, Royal Asiatic Society, the International Association of Cognitive Linguistics, Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal, Land, en Volkenkunde (KITLV), Malaysian Linguistics Association, and the International Committee on Indonesian Etymology.
736 Wacana Vol. 23 No. 3 (2022) In memoriam H.E. Harimurti Kridalaksana (KPH Martanegara) 737 Harimurti established and led several linguistic institutions in Indonesia.
He founded the Himpunan pembina bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian language trustees association) and served as its chairman for two terms. He founded and served as Chairman of the Masyarakat linguistik Indonesia (Indonesian linguistic society). In addition, he was the Chairperson of the Atma Jaya Jakarta Foundation in 1989-1999. He served twice as Chair of the Indonesian Literature Department (FSUI) and as Coordinator of Cultural Studies at the University of Indonesia Postgraduate Program (1996-2004). He was also the Chancellor of Atma Jaya University, Jakarta (1999-2003). For several years, from 2004, he served as the Center for lexicology and lexicography director, FIB-UI. His last position was as the Chancellor of Buddhi Dharma University, Tangerang, in 2015-2019.
Harimurti Kridalaksana was a dedicated teacher. In addition to teaching at UI, he taught at various universities throughout Indonesia, including Atma Jaya Catholic University, Trisakti University, Gajah Mada University in Yogyakarta, the Naval Staff and Command School, as well as other universities outside Java. He produced many excellent linguists. Almost all linguistics professors in Indonesia at one time or another came under his inspiring influence, hence the name the Father of Indonesian Linguistics.
His services were frequently called upon in overseas institutions. He was an external examiner at Annamalai University in India, Malaya University and Putra Malaysia University in Malaysia, and the University of Brunei Darussalam. He also taught at the Instituto Universitario Orientale (IUO) in Naples, Italy and in Thailand.
Harimurti was also a pioneer in teaching Indonesian as a foreign language.
In 1987, UI moved from Jakarta to the border between South Jakarta and Depok. The lecturers found it difficult to spare the time between Depok and Jakarta, so Harimurti put forward a proposal to the dean that they focus on teaching Indonesian in Depok, which the dean agreed to. Harimurti then invited all lecturers who were interested in teaching Indonesian to foreigners to work together and arranged a workshop. The result became a standard Indonesian language teaching curriculum for foreigners, that later included the preparation of placement tests, as well as teaching materials. In addition, lecturers on the program also received specialist training in teaching Indonesian as a foreign language. In the Fifth Indonesian Language Congress (Kongres Bahasa Indonesia V), 1988, Harimurti came up with the term BIPA, an acronym of Bahasa Indonesia bagi Penutur Asing (Indonesian for foreign language speakers), which subsequently became the official term for the teaching of Indonesian as a foreign language.
Harimurti’s engaging teaching style arose from the kind of research he carried out. Early in his career, he did a lot of work in the field of language use. He was a researcher at the International Research Project on the Language Planning Process in collaboration between Stanford University, California, USA and the Universitas Indonesia, 1970-1971. In addition, he also conducted research on the Riau Malay language on Bintan Island and Lingga Island.
This study was continued with research on the language of the Orang Laut in the Riau Archipelago and on the language of the Sakai in the Riau Mainland from 1969-1972. The study was sponsored by LIPI (Indonesian Institute of Sciences). In 1974, he surveyed language politics in Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines.
My own language research skills, as well as any teaching skills that I may have, owe everything to Harimurti. As a fresh graduate, I became his assistant and was involved in some of his research. The result of the research came out in two publications namely Pembentukan kata dalam bahasa Indonesia (1996, Word formation in Indonesian), and Kelas kata dalam bahasa Indonesia (1998, Word categorization in Indonesian) and have met with considerable success.
A book arising from descriptive linguistic research on the Indonesian language, Tata bahasa deskriptif bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian descriptive grammar) was published by the Center for Language Development in 1985. There were also books written with the assistance of Simon Djelalu, a church friend, and published by Nusa Indah Publisher in Ende, Fungsi bahasa dan sikap bahasa (1982, Language functions and language attitudes) and Kamus sinonim bahasa Indonesia (1989, Indonesian synonym dictionary) both are highly thought of among Indonesian practitioners.
Besides his interest in grammar, he was also interested in semantics, semiotics, lexicography, and critical discourse analysis. From 2004, in particular, he took an active role in lexicographical projects and became a consultant for lexicon and terminology at the Centre for Language Development. In addition, he was a consultant for various bilingual dictionaries, such as the Mandarin-Indonesian dictionary (compiled by Hermina Sutami), the Corso dictionary in lingua indonesiana (Italian) (compiled by Sitti Faizah Soenoto), and the Indonesian-Russian dictionary (compiled by Prof Dr Njaju Yenny Malik). For him, compiling a standard dictionary was not a side job, but a huge responsibility and the work was never ending. To do it successfully, according to him, required diligent professional lexicographers’ experts, and the cost of producing reliable lexicons was invariably high.
In addition to the above-mentioned books, a well-known book published by Gramedia Pustaka Utama (GPU) deserves to be mentioned, namely Kamus linguistik(1982, Linguistics dictionary). Together with Pembentukan kata dalam bahasa Indonesia (1996) and Kelas kata dalam bahasa Indonesia (1998), these three books have become the primary handbooks for Indonesian language teachers, lecturers, and language practitioners.
In addition to what has been described here, there are still numerous papers, monographs, and manuscripts that he presented in scientific meetings in foreign countries, as well as dozens of book titles that there has not been space to record here: linguistic seeds that Harimurti Kridalaksana planted throughout his academic career.
In his book Perencanaan bahasa Indonesia he stressed that a language cannot be allowed to speak for itself but must be managed and maintained in a language plan. There are two interrelated types of planning, micro
738 Wacana Vol. 23 No. 3 (2022) In memoriam H.E. Harimurti Kridalaksana (KPH Martanegara) PB and macro. Micro planning concerns internal language problems, such as
grammar and spelling. Macro planning is concerned with general linguistic steps, relations with the community, and with other languages. Perhaps, that is Harimurti’s message to all his successors throughout Indonesia. Together we must maintain Indonesian by formulating a comprehensive language plan that covers both micro and macro levels. Thank you, Harimurti Kridalaksana.
Your legacy will always be in our hearts. Rest in peace, Pak Hari.
